𝑩𝑳𝑨𝑪𝑲|𝑺𝑰𝑹𝑰𝑼𝑺 𝑩𝑳𝑨𝑪𝑲'𝑺 𝑫𝑨𝑼𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑬𝑹

Part Of The Deal

I sighed and flopped onto the bed next to him. He shifted uncomfortably and put a little space between us.

"Why don't you join us for dinner?" I offered hopefully.

"What? So you and your friends can stare at me like you want to kill me the entire time? Not exactly welcoming" he said with an upturned nose.

"No, Draco" I whined, "look, you came with us for a reason, right?" I said, leaning my head to get a better look at his face.

"I..." he stopped the snarky comment from reaching his lips and paused, "I think so" he murmured.

"Tell me" I smiled.

"When I saw you lying on the floor I just thought about how no one deserves that...surely. When you said I was like Sirius I thought about what that meant and how I was being offered a choice" he explained.

"Something no one had offered you before" I added for him.

He turned to look at me with surprise and I gave him a knowing smirk.

"But what do I do now? Potter hates me as well as your lover boy" Draco grunted petulantly.

"For starters, calling them by their first names might help" I chuckled and he cracked an amused smile, "I know you don't think much of my family, but one thing they are is accepting" I told him, hoping he'd hear the truth in my words.

"How so?" he countered.

"Well, they accepted me. When everyone else said I was a monster just like my Father they chose to believe that wasn't true. When everyone else called me dangerous for my powers" I stopped mid sentence to twirl a tiny ball of red round my fingers.

He watched it with fascination.

"They told you that you could never hurt them" Draco mumbled understandingly.

"Yeah" I said, "they will accept you Draco, that's a promise" I beamed assuringly.

"What happens if I start to care for them? What happens if they hurt me?" he frowned negatively.

He wasn't talking about physical hurt though, he was scared of caring for someone and having them hurt him.

"When you care for someone, getting hurt is part of the deal" I carefully placed a hand on his shoulder.

At first, he tensed under my touch but once I rubbed his shoulder bone with my thumb he relaxed and nodded to me.

"If I come down do I have to wear that ridiculous apron too?" he joked with me.

I couldn't believe that Draco Malfoy was joking around. He always seemed so brooding and serious. Maybe he really was just like us-a kid.

"I think you'd be pretty in pink!" I retorted. "Get out of those clothes they're filthy" I ordered him playfully and left the room.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

I laid out the dishes on the table and called everyone for dinner.

Fred and Ron stumbled into the kitchen with a Weasley Whiz Bang in their hands. They both fizzled them out with breathless faces like children who'd come inside from playing.

Hermione walked in with a book under her arm. She smiled at me before sitting next to Ron at the table, her smile shy as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear whilst Ron gawked at her.

Remus, Bill and Fleur all came in with greetings and questions of how everyone was doing. They all sat at the table on the other side of Hermione, Fred, Ron and an empty seat for me. The only seat left was the one next to Bill at the end for where Draco would hopefully sit.

"As always, love, you are amazing" Fred complimented as I served the food for everyone.

"It's a nice break from us cooking, isn't it Fleur?" Bill asked his wife.

Fleur's golden hair bounced as she nodded happily.

"Is it okay if I join you?" Draco coughed from the doorway into the kitchen.

He was out of his dirty clothes. He now wore a pair of dark brown trousers with a green and black knitted sweater with a white shirt underneath-collaring his neck. He'd cleaned up his face of dirt and blood too-he looked so normal. Usually he was suited and expensive looking.

"Sure, there's a seat next to Bill" I pointed to the empty seat next to Bill, who pulled it out for him with a smile.

"Where's Luna, Olivander and the goblin?" Bill questioned, tucking into his food.

"I apparated Luna back with her Dad, Olivander is upstairs not wanting food and the Goblin was too grouchy to ask" Fred listed.

"Mmm, this chicken is delicious, Nerezza!" Bill groaned.

"Suppose you'd prefer it live" Draco joked lightly.

I winced, not knowing how the group would react to Draco being playful and light-hearted when they'd experienced him as a bully. However, I was relieved when everyone burst into laughter at Draco's joke about BIll's scar.

"Don't talk about eating food alive, Nezz's just as bad as her Dad" Fred nudged my referring to Remus and I's same scars.

"Ha. Hilarious Freddie" I said sarcastically, sticking my tongue out at him.

"It was quite funny actually" Ron smiled crookedly.

"So, Malfoy" Harry began, "if you're staying here, does that mean you're on our side?" he asked with narrow and doubting eyes.

Draco cast a nervous glance to me and I nodded reassuringly.

"If it's okay with you all, yes. I'd like to be on the right side for a change...Harry" Draco finished with Harry's first name and he seemed stunned.

Draco ducked his head to eat his food out of embarrassment for being vulnerable for a split second.

Harry closed his gaping mouth and swallowed.

"Yeah, that's okay Draco" Harry replied with the same politeness as Draco had.

I grinned proudly to myself and Fred kissed my cheek with an impressed smile.

Remus glimpsed up at me from his eating and our eyes locked. We simply stared at one another for a few seconds until I smiled at him, lighting up his entire face.

That's when I knew that no matter what happened, no matter if I wasn't here anymore...this family would be okay because they had each other. Draco had a choice and he'd chosen to do the right thing; knowing my family, that meant they would be loyal to him now.

We'd be okay.